Smitty: I love what those cats are doing over there.
ML: Oh yeah.
Smitty: Hyman (Katz) and Frank (Cody) and Dave (Koz), everybody over there.
ML: Oh, it couldn’t be a better situation. I mean, you’ve got a boutique label, but you have a big machine behind them, they are now distributed by Universal, but they’re very creative, Koz is in it and Koz is this…
Smitty: He’s creative.
ML: He’s a brilliant guy who understands all sides of the business, and you’ve got Hyman and Frank. Frank, I mean, when you say radio, you can’t say radio without saying Frank Cody.
Smitty: That’s true.
ML: And then you’ve got Hyman Katz, who is one of the brightest businessmen out there. Well, he’s a musician too. So he understands that part too. And it’s a wonderful situation and they have created from the ground up a great family, they’re signing some wonderful artists, they just signed Tom Scott. Patti Austin is over there, Wayman Tisdale, Jonathan Butler, Marc Antoine. I mean, that’s a great family. And we’re all friends, we go out to events together. I’ll tell you what they did for all of us this year, which just blows my mind, is every year the Grammy has a show. Basically it’s a program called Musicares. Are you familiar with that?
Smitty: Yep.
ML: Okay, it’s founded by the Grammy Foundation and every year they have a Musicares person of the year. And they do a big fundraising dinner and show right before the Grammys every year. This year was James Taylor and they got us a table and these are very expensive tickets. I mean, you’re talking about a thousand dollars a person, okay?
Smitty: Yeah.
ML: And they got a whole table for the whole label and we all went there together and sat there and had the best time of our lives. It was just a magic evening to hear Alison Krauss sing James Taylor or Dixie Chicks or Paul Simon, and then James Taylor goes up there and it’s just oh my God.
Smitty: That’s amazing stuff, isn’t it?
ML: I mean, it was musical heaven right there.s
Smitty: (Laughs.) That’s too cool, man, and those are some of my favorite artists too.
ML: Oh yeah.
Smitty: I have been a James Taylor fan forever.
ML: Oh yeah. I mean, that was the thing. “You’ve Got A Friend” has gotta be one of the more favorite of mine on the record, if I can even say that.
Smitty: Oh. Yeah, yeah.
ML: It’s just, I mean, come on. It’s just all melody. I know actually that was written by Carole King, but James Taylor, in my opinion, made it so famous.
Smitty: Yeah, absolutely. Just going back to the label, those guys are great. What amazes me is what they’ve accomplished in such a short period of time.
ML: Oh yeah, oh yeah, absolutely.
Smitty: And I think that speaks volumes for itself because a lot of labels that start out where Rendezvous started out, they usually don’t get this far this quick and with such substance, I think, is the other thing too, and that’s a tribute to everybody involved, including you cats as the artists on the label as well, so it’s just a whole collective great effort, I think.
ML: Yeah.
Smitty: Oh, give me your Web site so everybody can go to your Web site.
ML: www.michaellington.com. Very exciting stuff going on right now. They are redesigning my whole Web site. My new management, you know, I’ve been signed by Stiletto (Entertainment). An amazing, amazing management. Barry Manilow is one of their clients and they just do things very big and very efficient, and they’re sorta taking control over my career and I just cannot believe the things that they’re doing now with the Rogers & Cowan publicity and redesigning my Web site and doing a whole purchase thing where you can buy anything, all these products, and they’re great. They’re beautiful and they have such a great team over there. They’re amazing. What can I say? They’re amazing. Really, to be honest with you, I couldn’t really be happier with my infrastructure right now. I mean, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve to get this, but…
Smitty: (Laughs.)
ML: Except, I guess, work hard and (laughs) …continue doing it and sticking with it, but my management, my record label, my booking agent (APA), it’s the top of the line and it’s very, very exciting to be a part of such an amazing infrastructure, it really is.
Smitty: Yeah, you’ve come a long way, Michael, from the saxophone and the suitcase.
ML: Well, yeah.
Smitty: (Laughs.)
ML: I have to admit that I am very excited about what’s going on.
Smitty: Yeah, and I wanted to say that I love everyone over there at Stiletto too.
ML: Oh yeah.
Smitty: I’ve worked with them in different capacities.
ML: Right.
Smitty: And Rogers & Cowan? Great group.
ML: Yep.
Smitty: I love Lori and everybody over there.
ML: Oh yeah. But I know I’m in good hands, I definitely know that. I keep on telling myself that every day. But, yeah, anyway, so talking about the Web site, we’re gonna have a brand new Web site and it’s gonna look terrific. Another thing, I guess I can kinda make an announcement on that, but…
Smitty: Yeah, an exclusive. Bring it on, baby!
ML: And it would be an exclusive. I am going to be….this is not a surprise….but I’m going to be a part of the Dave Koz Cruise.
Smitty: Oh yeah, okay.
ML: Okay, well, without getting into what I’m gonna do is…I’m doing a special event on Dave Koz’s Cruise, but basically what I am in the process of doing right now is launching my own cigar line.
Smitty: Really!
ML: And it is very, very exciting and I’ll tell you why it is so exciting for me because I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time and there’s a lotta things that has to make sense before you do that. For one thing is I know it’s a novelty and I know that people are gonna buy it because it’s mine, but they may not be smoking, and that’s cool, but the real challenge for me was….before I launched it I wanted to find the best cigar in the world, if that’s possible. In other words, I love like the Davidovs of cigars, I mean, they’re mellow, they’re nice, they’re nutty, they smoke great. I wanted to find something of that caliber but preferably better, okay? And that’s not easy to do. You’re talking about somebody who’s been in the cigar business for a long time, so I have, together with a partner on the East Coast, have sampled a lot of different blends basically from most major cigar manufacturers. They have made custom blends for me and I’ve sampled those and we’re picking the blend that I like the most and this cigar is unbelievable. I could honestly tell you that this is the best cigar in the world.
Smitty: This is an exclusive!
ML: Because I wanted a cigar that I can smoke. I wanted something that I love. And I’m really, really excited about this thing and basically we’re gonna launch that on the Koz Cruise and then we’re gonna continue marketing it after, but it is great. It is just terrific.
Smitty: Wow!
ML: I’ll be so excited…anybody disputing me that it’s not the greatest cigar in the world, I’ll be happy to do a test. (Both laughing.)
Smitty: Take ‘em on, huh?
ML: Oh, this one is…this is a winner, this is a winner.
Smitty: So you’re gonna have it all packaged real cool?
ML: Yeah, they’re doing it all right now. They’re really doing some unique labels, they’re actually custom making the cedar boxes for me, and the imprint. I mean, we’re doing it the right way. We’re doing five different sizes. It’s gonna be Old Dominican with a Connecticut shave wrapper. It’s unbelievable.
Smitty: Oh. You know, you’re probably gonna educate people on cigars first before anything else is what’s gonna happen.
ML: Yeah but the beauty is you could just light it up and not talk about it too.
Smitty: Yeah. (Laughs.)
ML: As long as you enjoy yourself.
Smitty: Wow. Well, speaking of things that I didn’t know, I hear you’re a James Bond fan.
